Is my graphics card broken?

[Gtowns]

Hi,

Started playing a new game last night but after an hour the picture
started breaking up. Thinking I needed new drivers I uninstalled the
ATI ones, along with all the recommended registry entries etc as usual.

When I tried to install the new one it kept getting stuck late on with
the message stating I needed to run standard VGA drivers to continue,
which I already was doing. Then I noticed that neither Display Adapter
or Monitor shows up on Device Manager or appear on AIDA32 anymore. Yet
the monitor is working whilst plugged into the card, albeit at a low
resolution.

All attempts to install these drivers/devices through Install New
Hardware have failed.

It all points to a failure with my Radeon 9600 card, but can anyone
confirm this or suggest anything else such as motherboard/chipset
failure?

Thanks.

 

[DL]

Where did you obtain new drivers from?
It is neccessary to use the wizard when installing drivers obtained from ATI
Just follow instructions on ATI site

 

[DL]

Typo
NOT neccessary to use wizard

Where did you obtain new drivers from?
It is neccessary to use the wizard when installing drivers obtained from ATI
Just follow instructions on ATI site

 

[Jim Macklin]

Did you do any troubleshooting before you got carried away
with yourself? Did you check to see that the fans were all
working? Did you let it cool down and try again?



| Hi,
|
| Started playing a new game last night but after an hour
the picture
| started breaking up. Thinking I needed new drivers I
uninstalled the
| ATI ones, along with all the recommended registry entries
etc as usual.
|
| When I tried to install the new one it kept getting stuck
late on with
| the message stating I needed to run standard VGA drivers
to continue,
| which I already was doing. Then I noticed that neither
Display Adapter
| or Monitor shows up on Device Manager or appear on AIDA32
anymore. Yet
| the monitor is working whilst plugged into the card,
albeit at a low
| resolution.
|
| All attempts to install these drivers/devices through
Install New
| Hardware have failed.
|
| It all points to a failure with my Radeon 9600 card, but
can anyone
| confirm this or suggest anything else such as
motherboard/chipset
| failure?
|
| Thanks.
|

 

[Eddie G]

Hi,

Started playing a new game last night but after an hour the picture
started breaking up. Thinking I needed new drivers I uninstalled the
ATI ones, along with all the recommended registry entries etc as usual.

When I tried to install the new one it kept getting stuck late on with
the message stating I needed to run standard VGA drivers to continue,
which I already was doing. Then I noticed that neither Display Adapter
or Monitor shows up on Device Manager or appear on AIDA32 anymore. Yet
the monitor is working whilst plugged into the card, albeit at a low
resolution.

Try reinstalling your old drivers from the CD and then update again, but
this time do not remove or uninstall anything. Every I update a driver I
NEVER uninstalled or removed the old one, nor have I ever edited the
registry.

 

[Eddie G]

Try reinstalling your old drivers from the CD and then update again, but
this time do not remove or uninstall anything. Every I update a driver I
NEVER uninstalled or removed the old one, nor have I ever edited the
registry.

<edit> Every TIME I update a driver...etc.

 

[Gtowns]

Thanks for the replies.

I originally used the new drivers (version 6.9) from the ATI site, Then
I tried the ones that came with the card, followed by a few official
versions released in between. All had the same problem.

The card is the fan-less Sapphire version so heat should not be a
problem. I suppose I'll just have to take the plunge on a 9600Pro, or
even a 1600Pro if I can find a AGP4X one out there.

 

[Jim Macklin]

Make sure the whole computer is clean, there are heat sinks
and radiating surfaces on the graphics card. Many new games
really work the graphics hard and that makes heat.

Make sure all the fans and vents are clean and working
properly. The video problem can also be caused by the CPU
or other problems external to the graphics card.


| Thanks for the replies.
|
| I originally used the new drivers (version 6.9) from the
ATI site, Then
| I tried the ones that came with the card, followed by a
few official
| versions released in between. All had the same problem.
|
| The card is the fan-less Sapphire version so heat should
not be a
| problem. I suppose I'll just have to take the plunge on a
9600Pro, or
| even a 1600Pro if I can find a AGP4X one out there.
|
|
|
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| > Did you do any troubleshooting before you got carried
away
| > with yourself? Did you check to see that the fans were
all
| > working? Did you let it cool down and try again?
| >
| >
| >
| >
| > | Hi,
| > |
| > | Started playing a new game last night but after an
hour
| > the picture
| > | started breaking up. Thinking I needed new drivers I
| > uninstalled the
| > | ATI ones, along with all the recommended registry
entries
| > etc as usual.
| > |
| > | When I tried to install the new one it kept getting
stuck
| > late on with
| > | the message stating I needed to run standard VGA
drivers
| > to continue,
| > | which I already was doing. Then I noticed that neither
| > Display Adapter
| > | or Monitor shows up on Device Manager or appear on
AIDA32
| > anymore. Yet
| > | the monitor is working whilst plugged into the card,
| > albeit at a low
| > | resolution.
| > |
| > | All attempts to install these drivers/devices through
| > Install New
| > | Hardware have failed.
| > |
| > | It all points to a failure with my Radeon 9600 card,
but
| > can anyone
| > | confirm this or suggest anything else such as
| > motherboard/chipset
| > | failure?
| > |
| > | Thanks.
| > |
|

 

[paulmd]

Thanks for the replies.

I originally used the new drivers (version 6.9) from the ATI site, Then
I tried the ones that came with the card, followed by a few official
versions released in between. All had the same problem.

The card is the fan-less Sapphire version so heat should not be a
problem.

I don't think your'e fighting a driver issue, I think it's a heat
issue.

Just because a card doesn't have a fan deosn't mean it can't overheat.
Good case airflow is especially important with passive cards. THere are
also squirrel cage cooling fans that mount in a free PCI slot that are
helpful with cooling a video card. Best place to put it is right next
to the card.

I suppose I'll just have to take the plunge on a 9600Pro, or
even a 1600Pro if I can find a AGP4X one out there.

If you get an 8x card, it can still run at 4x.

 

[DL]

Well with that method you will at some stage fall over

 

[Jonny]

Hi,

Started playing a new game last night but after an hour the picture
started breaking up. Thinking I needed new drivers I uninstalled the
ATI ones, along with all the recommended registry entries etc as usual.

When I tried to install the new one it kept getting stuck late on with
the message stating I needed to run standard VGA drivers to continue,
which I already was doing. Then I noticed that neither Display Adapter
or Monitor shows up on Device Manager or appear on AIDA32 anymore. Yet
the monitor is working whilst plugged into the card, albeit at a low
resolution.

All attempts to install these drivers/devices through Install New
Hardware have failed.

It all points to a failure with my Radeon 9600 card, but can anyone
confirm this or suggest anything else such as motherboard/chipset
failure?

Thanks.

As I recall it, you have to remove both the ATI driver software, and the ATI
user interface software for altering size and color depth etc. Uninstall
the latter first. These are 2 different animals. Then, reboot using a
standard PCI (VGA) driver for the ATI card.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Locate, download and install Driver Cleaner Pro. It may sound like you have
some type of driver issue, which is common between most video card drivers
(ATi and nVidia.) By running this cleaner utility, after uninstalling the ATi
drivers, you are clear out any/all left-over driver files. After this is done
re-boot and try re-installing the drivers again.

 

[Gtowns]

Nice software but the driver install still stops and asks for me to use
vga drivers (I'm using the default VgaSave one).

As advised I'm going to get a proper cleaning kit for the vents etc,
but if that doesn't work then it's onto eBay for a new/used Radeon 9600
or nVidia alternative. I don't play a lot of games (RCT3, golf etc) and
doubt whether my SilentPC 250watt power supply would handle anything
too modern.

Just for the record is it common for a PC not to recognize a monitor
when it is working through a possibly broken graphics card, or is that
a good sign that the card is kaput?

Thanks for the help guys.